MATT:
There we go. So, the next thing we deal with is the organizational structure.
And how you deal with social media is going to be different based on the size of your team. You alluded to this before. Who’s in charge? Where does it fall?
So, for organizations with small marketing teams of two to five people, where would we put social media marketing, Greg?
GREG:
It’s only going to be one person. So, you don’t have any organizational structure problems at all.
This is a really typical example of what’s actually going on in the real world out there. One person has to do it all, and they only have so much bandwidth, so they have to make trade‐offs. They focus on what matters most because that’s all they can do today.
MATT:
What structure works best for organizations with mid‐sized teams of 6 to 20 people?
GREG:
You might have a centralized social media marketing group of two to five people that works with multiple brands, products, and departments throughout the organization. Or each brand, product, department might have its own social media marketing specialist.
If your group is centralized, then it may also be structured by social media platforms. But this can be problematic.
You wouldn’t have wanted to be the Vine specialist when it was shut down in 2017. And you wouldn’t have wanted to be the Google+ specialist when that was shut down in 2019.
So, try to get some cross‐training because you never know if or when you’ll be hit by the Calvinball and required to sing the Very Sorry Song.
MATT:
What about organizations with more than 20 marketers?
GREG:
Your organization may have six or more social media marketers. But it may also outsource some specialized social media marketing activities, like video production and social media advertising, to outside agencies and consultants. So, that will make your organizational structure even more like Calvinball.
MATT:
So, when do I staff and when do I hire an outside agency to manage an ongoing social media marketing program or the launch of a new campaign?
GREG:
Well, if it is crucial to your success, then you better have someone on your staff. If you’ve got something that’s seasonal—that you want to dial up and dial back—then it is actually pretty handy to have an outside agency.
MATT:
I find an agency is helpful because typically they’ve got all the tools in place. They have people who know how to use the tools. It’s a great way to get experienced people very quickly. And, as you said, it can ebb and flow with the business.
The downside is the agency also has 20 other companies that they are doing this for. So, you’re on a budget of time of what they can do for you.
GREG:
Another downside of the agency is the hidden mark‐up for renting one of their talented people instead of hiring a new person in‐house.
MATT:
What do you mean?
GREG:
When you hire a person in‐house, you generally give them an annual salary.
Then, you need to take their salary and multiply by 2.0 to get the fully loaded cost of a full‐time person on your staff.
But if you hire an agency, you need to multiply that same person’s salary by 2.7. Why? Because in addition to paying the person’s salary and covering their fully loaded costs, you also have to pay the agency enough to provide it with a profit margin.
And I know this because I’ve worked on both the client and agency side.
But this only works if you’ve got enough work to do 12 months a year. If you’ve got 8 months of work a year, then the flexibility of the outside agency is a little more useful.
So again, the number is 2.0 versus 2.7. That’s the difference between having the person in‐house and paying for the same person at an outside agency.
MATT:
That’s a great metric.
GREG:
Well, here’s how to use it.
On June 19, 2022, Jim Puzzanghera wrote an article in the Boston Sunday Globe, entitled, “The world economic outlook turns grim as ‘once in a lifetime’ shocks take their toll.”
He said, “The pernicious forces largely responsible for these problems also are rippling through economies across the globe, as war in Europe combines with continued pandemic disruptions to pile new hardships onto a world still reeling from the devastating effects of COVID‐19.”
Puzzanghera added, “Soaring prices for energy and food since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are slowing growth in nations large and small, sharply reversing the soaring economic gains of last year.”
So, if you head up a big organization with more than 20 marketers, then having a mix of staff and agency people gives you a lot more elbow room. It’s easier to dial back your agency than it is to lay off people. I know because I’ve had to do both.
MATT:
Absolutely. That’s never a fun part of the deal.
And then there are the social media platforms. They’re still playing Calvinball.
GREG:
You’re right. And on June 15, 2022, Alex Heath of The Verge wrote an article entitled, “Facebook is changing its algorithm to take on TikTok, leaked memo reveals.”
The leaked internal memo was written by Tom Alison, the head of Facebook, who revealed the platform plans to turn its main feed into a “discovery engine” for video content.
Apparently, the main feed will become “a mix of Stories and Reels at the top, followed by posts its discovery engine recommends from across both Facebook and Instagram. It’ll be a more visual, video‐heavy experience with clearer prompts to direct message friends a post.”
So, we’ve just entered the Pernicious Poem Place and the score is Q to 12.
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